NEWS and VIEWS

Gloucester Branch/Bristol Group Magazine

Richard III Society           March 2008

In August, 1485, Henry Tudor advanced eastwards with his army to the river Severn and decided to cross from Wales into England at Shrewsbury on his way to do battle with Richard.

He planned to enter by the Welsh Bridge but the town's senior bailiff Thomas Mytton, owing allegiance to Richard, ordered the gates to be closed and the bridge to be defended proclaiming Henry would enter 'over his belly' ie over his dead body.

But colleagues had a quiet word and in a piece of what would be wonderful theatre worthy of Shakespeare Mytton lay in the road 'belly upward' on the bridge roadway for Henry to step over him and all ow his honour to be vindicated.

As it happened this was not a bad piece of diplomacy as Mytton was senior bailiff when Henry VII visited the town in 1488.

And in 2006 when Frankwell Quay in Shrewsbury was picked as the ideal waterside setting for a new entertainment venue there was a round of applause when the remains of this mediaeval bridge were uncovered.

The Museum of London Archaeological Service discovered the foundations of two bastions and an arch which had survived the 1795 demolition when a new bridge was built downstream. The arch had been incorporated into cellars and infilled in the 60's when buildings were demolished.

No one knows where Mytton confronted Henry but it is likely to have been the northern end of the bridge, perhaps even on the surviving bridge arch which will be under the main stage of the new main auditorium of the Theatre Severn.

Cue for a performance of Shakespeare's Richard III

It is uncertain when the Welsh Bridge was first constructed but it was probably in existence by 1121 when a charter refers to two bridges in the town - presumably the English, crossing the Severn to the east, and the Welsh. It is possible the early 12th cent Welsh Bridge was built of timber not masonry. The previous river crossing was a few hundred yards downstream of the Welsh Bridge and 10th cent pottery on the bridge approach shows Saxon activity.

During the 12th cent this stretch of the Severn served as the frontier between the Principality and England so both the English and Welsh bridges were fortified serving part of the town's defences. Sandstone rubble on the approach to the Welsh Bridge may have been a gatehouse of this period.

After 1160 the Hospital of St George was in existence to the north east of the bridge and a burial found in 2005 may have been part of the hospital cemetery. For this reason the bridge was also known as St George's Bridge. The hospital apparently closed during the 15th century.

There are only two intact fortified mediaeval bridges in Britain; the 13th century Monnow Bridge, Monmouth, and the 14th cent Warkworth Bridge, Northumberland.

Mirror cases with scenes of romantic encounters between young men and women, carved writing tables, combs and even worm eaten skulls are part of the mediaeval carved ivories exhibited in London.

They are all testimony of the skillful mediaeval craftsmen who usually worked with African ivory, one of the hardest and most resistant to carve.

These ivories are set within the life of the later middle ages when there were three major upheavals; the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), the Black Death and the spiritual malaise and administrative crisis within the Catholic Church culminating in the Protestant Reformation.

More than 45 items are on display at Somerset House until March 9 loaned by the Art Gallery of Ontario, selected from the mediaeval art collection (featuring 2,000 works) of the late Kenneth Thomson, Lord Thomson of Fleet and Northbridge.

Other examples of the intricate carvings are large statues of the Virgin and Child, intended to stand on altars in chapels - plus smaller versions for private use in the home - boxes and caskets, folding diptych's with scenes from the life of Christ carved in relief and a rare set of carved serving knives with fabulous beasts decorating the ivory handles.

Also included is the 14th century nativity and last judgment diptych, showing elaborately carved figures rising from their tombs, until recently thought a forgery so fine was the workmanship.

It was assumed, rather condescendingly, to be a 19th century Gothic carving but carbon dating confirms it to be 12th or 13th century.

The Dormeuil Diptych of the passion of Christ described as'magnificent' was made in the Paris workshop of the Passion Diptych's, responsible for some of the finest ivory carvings of the 14th century, and is the largest Passion diptych recorded (24.7cm by 13.4 cm when opened). It was last exhibited in 1913.

Domestic ivories include a mid 15th cent narrative comb showing two couples being transported to the fountain of youth. There is the Parisian mirror (c 1325-1375) featuring four monsters around its circular ivory rim.


Medieval society's order is inverted on the mirror's carved back as it lower half depicts three women uncommonly astride stallions, hunting with birds. According to one interpretation, the men in the scene's upper part act as servants, or by implication, the women's prey.

The macabre comes in the shape of a 6.6cm high South Netherlandish mori bead (c 1500-1525) to remind the owner of mortality. One side depicts a pensive female the other a worm eaten skull with the French inscription AINSI SERONS NOUS WI OU DEMAIN (so shall we be, today or tomorrow).

It is thought the symbolism refers to the Black Death's decimation of the European populace with the gruesome memento mori a stark reminder of life's transience when the there were still unpredictable outbreaks of the disease. The Black Death may have been a major factor in depopulating vast areas throughout Europe but. it is not safe to assume this was the main reason for village desertion in Britain during 1348-1349.

Maurice Beresford excavated Wharram Percy, N. Yorks, for over 40 years and studied the historical landscape trying to ascertain the significance and the effects of disease and plague on villages and the demographics of the landscape.'In other villages, like Wharram Percy with many years of life between the Black Death and their final depopulation, there was a sufficient fall in population from the heyday of the 13th cent for the side of the aisles of the church to be pulled down and the arcade walled up.

Wharram Percy was not the only village to give us evidence and Beresford continues; 'in general the plague has been given too much credit for destruction of villages and many sheep enclosures passed by unnoticed as long as the Black Death could be invoked as an explanation.'

There are also other valid arguments.

Gloucester's civil authority placed an embargo on the city and its limits keeping it in isolation. The city gates were closed to refugees from Bristol who wished to enter.

Many of Gloucester's citizens left for the relative safety of the countryside but the city ordered they would be fined for every day of absence. The reason: if too many people left the city there would be insufficient people left to run the town.

This happened in other cities and large towns although there is not so much evidence for mass depopulation. Despite the precautions the plague reached Gloucester in 1349.

To give some idea of the death rate Llanthony Priory recorded the death of 19 of the 30 canons. Bishop Wulston Bransford remained on his country estate and searched for priests to take the places of the dead.

Between March and September at least 80 vacancies had arisen and Bishop Bransford himself died of the plague on August 6, 1349.

Patrick Ottaway says:'In addition to its immediate effects, the Black Death, and subsequent recurrences of plague, caused major social and economic disruption in Britain and the population may not have recovered its pre-plague level until about 1500.'

But this is a view which is challenged.

The early part of the 14th century from 1314 saw dramatic climatic changes which devastated crop yields and harvests, rearing and breeding of cattle was also affected. This social and economic disruption on a large scale had ongoing affects on population growth, through the drop in marriages and high mortality and the decline in births.

Eventually this weakened the social balances of villages and towns plus affecting on the economy.

Historian Richard Muir: 'As the climate decayed so desperate upland communities broke in ever more windswept and stony plough land while the village communities in counties like Norfolk drifted to settle round common grazing-green islands in a sea of overworked plough land which offered support for their livestock.

Eventually a large proportion of the villages on the poorer lands perished. Many of those which survived as weak and emaciated settlements in the face of environmental adversity were fated to perish from other causes.'

So it seems there was already a breakdown through climate and depopulation before the plague, especially after 1334.

Philip Ziegler believes the Black Death must have been the most important single factor responsible for almost halving the population. But in the absence of evidence showing exactly when and why the drop in numbers took place the contention must remain unproven.

However William Naphy and Andrew Spicer point out: 'One peculiar feature of the Black Death was that it swept rural areas as well as towns and cities. Subsequent outbreaks tended to be localised in population centres. Nevertheless, the impact on rural areas was still great because towns and cities, in the immediate aftermath of an attack tended to 're-populate' themselves with countryfolk. For example, around 1,300 villages were abandoned in England during the period 1350-1500 primarily through migration from the countryside to plague-blighted urban centres:

This suggests the Black Death contributes to village depopulation and desertion but on a wider extent people migrating from their villages to urban areas.

This idea backs up Beresford's argument that the Black Death was not the main catalyst for village desertion and depopulation in others.

Over population in the 13th cent was an economic imbalance for the period and with the fall in population in rural areas following the great famine of the early 14th cent the plague may have only helped amplify the trends.

It could be that nature holds its own checks and balances. With over population the socio economic functions fluctuate to compensate.

The natural progression would be to bring in nature's own balances. By the 14th cent the population starts to decrease; there is famine, poor climates and by 1348 the onslaught of the Black Death. Plus villages have already started to depopulate through economics and social reasons. Climatic changes greatly affected the agrarian and pastoral communities plus periods of war and rebellion on British soil as well as the wars between England and France and the early land enclosures.

They all had an effect on the landscape and added towards the changes. The advance of the Black Death was one of many causes for those deserted villages.

And of course there is still more research to be done.

1. Blackfriars at Gloucester - A New Life?
   Yvonne Hannis
2. The Riches of John of Gaunt
   Suzanne
3. The Black Death (Parts I & II)
   Debbie Bardo

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